The Ingersoll is surely one of the cheapest, most improvable and least designs ever offered in writing machines.

Two wooden pegs supported a stiff coiled wire on which the rubber types slid, each letter mounted on a small wooden block. The base sat atop the paper, which lay fat on the table. The user was expected to select letters, one by one, press them onto of two ink pads (red or black) and then press them down to the paper to print.